Well, a Ferrari is a FIAT.. FIAT owns Ferrari..
Having spent enough time around cars like Ferrari and etc.. you discover it is the name that drives the cost of their parts in many ways. Why should a status brand like Ferrari be allowed to over charge for parts and FIAT/Lancia/Alfa Romeo be relegated into the cheap heap pile?
As for the Lancia, it is on many levels a very high quality design that was not completed for production. This is similar to many low volume production cars... and while it is in ways a FIAT, in many ways, it is not.
If you take apart a Ferrari 308, one might discover many of it's bits is not any better than that Lancia or FIAT... or in fact, the identical bits were used.
I do believe the idea that a Scorpion / Montecarlo parts should be cheap due to the low market value of them in the US is simply wrong, just like the x1/9 and other Lancia cars that were imported to US but became perceived as cheap crap heaps.
If you want to be a Scorpacarlo owner, own up to what it actual cost to own one, not what you expect or want to pay for the cost of ownership.
This is why so many Scorpions and X1/9 in the US are in such poor condition and one of the reasons for their low market value. This cheap parts ideology also causes part suppliers to offer crapy parts which compound the problems and myth of "Fix It Again Tony".
How many sub-standard parts were installed into FIAT/Lancia/Alfa Romeo cars that failed, then the owner blames FIAT/Lancia/Alfa Romeo for the failure?
If the market is not willing to pay for the actual cost of quality parts, the suppliers will see this as zero demand and not offer any parts at all, which causes these cars to be junked due to lack of support.
Bernice
Totally agree pete. If this were a 308, then the skys the limit and I'd suck up the outragous price because ferraris are supposed to be outragous. But this is a fiat.I'll make straps and give that a try first. In the end I may have to relent and pay through the nose but not without a fight!
